| At sea. Atlantic Rowing Race: Row 4 Cancer crew desperate to get to Antigua |
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| Thursday, 19 January 2006 | |
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Stephen Davies: This was received from Caroline Baugh (Liz's sister): "Hi Steve, I spoke to Liz today at 1400.... All is well on the good ship Bilbo - it has been a pretty good night as far as rowing is concerned, although still pretty wet and rainy.....they are desperate to get to Antigua - which seems by all accounts to be enjoying a totally different weather system! The winds have shifted though to a fairly steady North-easterly, which seems to be pushing them fast in the right direction! Since the "Big Roll" a few nights ago, Liz and Rich have been sorting themselves out, drying kit and repairing the electrics as much as they can. In fact the only real damage is to the Laptop - otherwise the good Bilbo looked after them pretty well and they came through relatively unscathed. Liz did remark though that although dry, everything on the boat has taken on the odour of a very ripe cheese, so anyone who is out in Antigua is likely to smell them coming before they appear over the horizon! Let's hope the port authorities don't decide they smell so bad, they send them away to row all the way back to the Canary Islands again! Last night, clearly having heard the crew's deliberations about the new rules for Flying Fish Kerplunk - it was time for the revenge of the fish. Whilst the Under 15 Juniors had not had much luck taking on the mighty Bilbo - they decided to recruit their bigger and more aggressive brothers to help them with the battle....Liz was rowing at about 3am and suddenly, whipping past her face was a large flying fish, approximately one foot long - who landed in the Bilbo footwell. She described it as about the size of a large salmon! Now clearly, being the very tough ocean rower that she is, the Flying Fish was rapidly dispatched and became breakfast....or not! Alternatively the real story goes that there was a very girly shriek from Liz, who tried to pick it up in a T-Shirt - but it was flapping around too much, so got pushed unceremoniously overboard. Apparently it didn't become breakfast as it stank about as much as the boat does! Few messages from the team - thank you all so much for the text messages and keep them coming - they are massively appreciated. Also a big hello to Sally Dutson who has sponsored today, and a Happy Birthday to Laura Evans - hope you are having as much fun at home as they are out there! And another milestone passed today - the team are aiming to cross a "Degree a Day" - so to travel 60 miles west in a day - and as of last night they crossed the "10 degrees to go to Antigua" point. So - all being well - and with a bit of help from wind and waves - they could be home and dry in the next ten days! Very exciting - and there will certainly be some family members in Antigua who can't wait to see them. The beer is on ice, the beds are waiting - let's try and will them as fast as they can through those last 10 degrees! Keep those texts coming!" Row 4 Cancer is crewed by Richard Mayon-White and Liz O'Keeffe from Southampton UK http://www.row4cancer.com/ Event website http://www.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 January 2006 ) |
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